Burning
by TracyT
Summary: My take on if Almost Famous had been shown before 3XK.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Burning

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Romance, Angst

Summary: Post Almost Famous and 3XK

Spoilers: See above

Archive: Yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this. It was a labor of love.

Author's note: This is my take if they had shown Almost Famous before 3XK. Just my take on it. How I wish it had been.

#######

She was in the middle of telling Josh about Castle's reactions to the male strippers, when he got a strange look on his face and interrupted her by saying, "Why are you telling me this?"

The smile faded from her face. "I…I was just telling you about my day. I thought it was kind of funny. I thought you'd like to hear about it."

Josh shook his head and sat down on the bed. He'd followed her into the bedroom when she got home so she could change clothes. She was just removing her jewelry and placing it in the box as she talked to him.

"You don't tell me about your day. You don't tell me about you. You tell me about _him_."

Kate turned to face him, frowning. "Castle? Josh, he's my partner, of course he's going to figure into my stories."

"No, you talk about him _all the time_." When she shook her head in denial, he added, "You don't even notice, do you?"

When she opened her mouth to respond he cut her off by saying, "And why did you dress like that tonight?" He gestured toward her.

Kate looked down at herself, suddenly feeling on the defensive. "Oh, come on, Josh. I dressed to fit in with the other women at the club. We went in posing as a couple…" As soon as the words were out of her mouth she knew they were a big mistake. She closed her eyes for a moment and bit her bottom lip.

"So you dressed like that for him?"

"_No. _Josh, I told you…" She was starting to lose her temper.

"Do you have any idea how hot you look, Kate? Any man breathing would take notice of you dressed like that."

She snorted a laugh. "Funny you should say that, because for your information, for all the notice Castle took of me dressed like this I could have been wearing a potato sack."

"And you were disappointed." It wasn't a question.

"_No. _Josh, this is getting ridiculous. I had no idea you were so jealous of my relationship, my _working_ relationship with Castle."

He stood and approached her. He was a big man and she was forced to look up at him.

"I wasn't, until I noticed how much time you spend with him, and when you're not with him, you talk about him. I think you need to think about what you really want, Kate. When you decide, let me know, okay?" With that he walked out of the room and out the front door.

#######

Kate slowly walked in her front door, feeling as if all the energy had been drained from her. She still felt raw, shaky, spent. Dear God, she'd nearly lost him tonight. She'd been so sure when she finally got into that motel room that she would find him dead, and the feeling was so close to the feeling she'd had when they'd found her mother that she wasn't sure how she was going to recover this time.

Without taking off her coat, she slid down the wall in the entry way and looped her arms around her bent knees. When Martha had called to tell her of Rick's message at the end of his phone call, a thrill of realization had shot through her. All the pieces fell into place and it became a matter of time to get to him before Jerry killed him. When he'd told his mother he loved her, he may have been trying to clue her in that something was off, but Rick was also saying good-bye.

The whole way there, she was screaming inside. Screaming like she had when she'd seen her mother's body, because she knew no matter how fast she drove, she would _never_ get there in time, and her mind started playing back all the good memories of Castle, as if showing her what she was going to be missing. All the times he'd done some silly, stupid thing to make her smile when she was down, all the times he brought her coffee. His beautiful blue eyes when she'd told him he'd won the bet. This was the man who wanted so badly for her to believe in magic, who came into her life and insisted she play a little, despite her initial protests. The man who made her life so much lighter, the man who had become so important to her—and she was going to lose him.

When they'd arrived at the motel, she'd jumped from the car and run toward the room without waiting for anyone. She vaguely heard Esposito shout, "Beckett, wait!" but she didn't, she couldn't. She ran as if her life depended on it, and in a way, it did. She heard Esposito running behind her, trying to catch up, but she didn't stop until she'd kicked the door in and shouted his name in desperation.

And then a miracle happened. He was okay. Dear God, he was alive. Her hands shook as she untied him, and although she was proud of the fact her voice didn't shake—much—when she told him she was glad he was okay, what she really wanted to do was throw herself in his arms and hold him for a long, long while.

Later, when she'd found him sitting by the pool, she'd taken him some coffee and asked him why Jerry had left him alive. "To punish me," he'd answered. She couldn't help herself at that moment. She had to touch him, to reaffirm he was truly all right. She put a hand on his knee, feeling the warmth of him under her fingers. When she'd told him she knew the way he felt, he'd said he knew she did and took her hand and squeezed it. They sat like that for some time, until he finally, reluctantly, took his hand from hers, saying he probably should call his mother and Alexis.

She took him home a short time later. They hadn't said much on the way to his loft, but the air was thick with unsaid words, unexpressed emotions. He'd asked her if she wanted to come up when they got to his place, but she said no, he should go spend time with his daughter and mother, they'd be worried. He'd gazed into her eyes for a few moments, and quietly said "See you tomorrow, then?" She had nodded and tried to smile as he got out of the car.

Now, her phone buzzed, rousing her from her memories. It was from Josh:

_Are you home? Can I come over?_

Kate sighed. She texted back:

_Not tonight, okay? I need some time alone._

He didn't text back after that. Something she didn't want to analyze too deeply right now.

Josh had asked her to decide what she wanted. Tears of frustration filled her eyes. She sniffled and wiped one away from her cheek. If she were honest with herself, right now what she wanted most was something she had no right to.

Damn all the rules that said what was right and wrong, damn all the people keeping them apart. If she could, she'd go to him right now and demand he show her he was alive. She wanted to feel his heart beating against hers, she wanted to feel his breath on her skin, she wanted to feel him _inside_ her. She so badly wanted the physical, tangible reassurance of his continued existence, but it couldn't happen.

She put her head against her knees and cried in regret, frustration and longing.

Her phone buzzed again. She wiped her face with her fingers and looked at the readout on her phone, feeling a flash of annoyance that Josh was bothering her again—but instead it was _him_.

_Hey, are you okay? _He was the one who had been nearly killed tonight and he was asking about her?

She texted back: _Okay, I guess. How about you?_

_Okay. _A few seconds later, a new message_: _

_I wish…_

Fresh tears filled her eyes.

She texted back: _Me too._

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Burning Chapter 2

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Romance, Angst

Summary: Post Almost Famous and 3XK

Spoilers: See above

Archive: Yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this. It was a labor of love.

Author's note: I hadn't really intended to continue after Chapter 1, but after a few people requested it, I pondered what that continuation might look like. Here it is.

#######

"Hey, kiddo, you okay?" Martha leaned against the door jamb of her son's office with a glass of wine in her hand. She was pleased at how calm her voice sounded. When he'd come home tonight she'd thrown her arms around him and didn't want to let go. She was still shaken. She'd nearly lost him tonight. Thank God Alexis had been out with Ash at the time and didn't know a thing about it yet.

Rick looked over at her quickly, obviously surprised by her presence. "I'm fine," he muttered and rand a hand through his hair.

"You've been pacing your office like a caged animal for the last hour. After tonight's ordeal I can't really blame you. You want to talk about it?"

Rick gave his mother an impatient look. "No, mother, I do not want to talk about it."

Martha nodded and bit her lip. She took a couple steps closer to him to get his attention.

"Fine, I'll leave you with one last piece of advice. Don't play with fire, darling, it's not right."

"I don't know what you mean." He looked tormented.

"Oh, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about," she said wisely. "You don't think I know how you're struggling with yourself? Everything in you wants to go to her, doesn't it?" He gave her a baleful look. "Darling, don't let what happened tonight, all the emotions it has dredged up, make you do something you'll regret later. As much as you want her right now, you need to consider the other people involved."

He shook his head as if in denial. She held up her hands in surrender. "Fine, butting out, now, but just remember, you're in a relationships with someone else."

He just continued to look at her silently, unhappily. She nodded to herself and decided to leave him to it.

Later, when she was in bed, she heard the front door open and close and she sighed. "Oh, Richard, what are you doing?"

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Burning Chapter 3

Author: TracyT

Rating: T

Category: Romance, Angst

Summary: Post Almost Famous and 3XK

Spoilers: See above

Archive: Yes, please

Feedback to:

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. No profit will be made on this. It was a labor of love.

Author's note: Okay, so forgive me, I dared to let them go there. Personally, I feel they have the right after all they went through, but that's MHO. I don't usually write smut, because I don't think I do it very well, but I hope this is acceptable. Let me know.

#######

When Kate woke up in the morning in a tangle of sheets, he was gone. She had a very clear memory of him, in the early hours before dawn, pulling her back into his body and moving her hair out of the way to press kisses along her neck and shoulders. She had moaned in pleasure, loving the feel of the heat of his body against her back. She held his arm to her and stroked it, smiling with her eyes closed. She felt him pull gently away from her and rise off the bed. She opened her eyes to see him gathering his clothes together. She made a sound of displeasure and held a hand out in his direction. "Nooo," she moaned. "Rick, come back to bed." Her voice was low and husky from sleep.

He looked her way-hair a mess from her hands-and became very still. He seemed mesmerized by the site of her, with her hair spread out on the pillow and her lips swollen from his kisses. Something flared in his eyes and in the next second he had tossed his clothing aside and he was on her, pressing her into the mattress with his body and ravaging her mouth with his as she smiled into his eyes and wrapped herself around him.

Now, she sat up and called his name. No answer. She looked over to the chair. His clothes were gone. She felt boneless, exhausted. Her breasts were tender and a bit sore from his hands and wickedly talented mouth, and the place between her legs was sticky and aching.

_Last night she'd finally made herself get up off the floor and had gone into her bedroom to change into a pink cami and yoga pants before padding back out to the living room. She'd pulled the quilt off the back of the couch and wrapped herself in it. The tears had finally stopped, but were very close to the surface, still. She lay back on the couch and fell into a doze. She was awakened a short time later by a knock on her door. She glanced at the clock. It was after one. _

_ She knew who it was before she opened the door. They gazed at each other silently for a few seconds and she felt the change in the electricity around them. He looked driven, haunted, a look she was sure she mirrored. In a husky voice he said, "Kate." Then, "Are you alone?"_

_ The word 'yes' had barely left her mouth before he was crushing her to him, his mouth hungry and rough. She moaned loudly, stunned by the feel of him against her, and clung to him frantically. He finally pulled back when breathing became a necessity, and murmured, "I want you so much. Just tonight, Kate, just give me one night. Please."_

_ She would have given him anything at that point. The memory of her terror on the way to the motel that night, the feeling that she had already lost him overwhelmed her and, tears in her eyes, she nodded and kissed him again, moaning when his tongue touched hers. She wanted to devour him. She wanted to pull him inside her skin. _

_He had her up against the closet door. He started kissing down her neck, one hand burrowing under her cami to cup a breast, his thumb brushing over the nipple and causing her to whimper. She had pushed his jacket off and was working on the buttons of his shirt when he pulled the cami up and off of her. "Let me taste you," His voice was husky as he sucked the nipple into his mouth and feasted on it, while his hand palmed the other breast. Her mouth fell open at the sensation and her head thudded back against the door. She got his shirt open and off as far as his elbows, but the feel of his mouth had her giving up on anything else. She speared her fingers into the hair on either side of his head and just held him to her, moaning and writhing against him, feeling the hard heat of him pressed against her. _

_He released her breast with a long lick that made her weak at the knees, and would have moved to the other, but she pushed him back to finish removing his shirt and unbuckle his belt. He quickly got rid of his shoes and socks and then his pants were down around his ankles. He stepped aside to kick them out of the way, and then he was wearing nothing but his boxers, his arousal very evident. He looked into her eyes for a moment with dark, unfathomable eyes, before hooking his thumbs into the waist band of her yoga pants and kneeling to slowly pull them down her legs along with her panties. When he was done he leaned forward, hands warm on her thighs, to press a kiss to the area just below her navel. She sucked in a sharp breath at the feel of his mouth and tongue against her as the muscles beneath clenched in response. She grabbed at his hair._

_He looked up at her, seeing her naked for the first time. She told herself she should feel self conscious, but the look of complete adoration on his face did away with those feelings. He rose and removed his boxers, his eyes never leaving hers. God, she thought, he was beautiful, standing before her completely nude and aroused just for her. _

_She took his hand to lead him to the couch. She didn't think she'd make it as far as the bed just yet. She'd only taken a step or two when he hauled her back against him, kissing her neck and nipping at her ear lobe, his erection prodding her backside. He had one arm anchoring her to him while the other stroked between her legs. "Ohhh," she moaned at the sensation. He growled low in his throat in return. His thumb brushed against her clit and she cried out. When he found how wet she was, he groaned, "Jesus, Kate." He spread a little of the moisture he found there, and slid a finger into her. She groaned loudly and pushed back against him involuntarily, wanting him so badly she could barely breathe. She broke away from him and pulled him to the couch, falling against it and pulling him down with her._

_He kissed her quickly on the mouth, once, twice three times, and then he brushed his erection against her folds. They both cried out at the touch. He took her hand and carried it down between them so she could help lead him in. She felt the pressure against her, and then he was sliding into her and she arched against him, crying out his name._

_He pulled almost all the way out, then pushed back into her deeply. Kate opened her eyes when she felt him still. She made a little sound of protest. "No," he said softly, brushing a hand through her hair. "Feel us, Kate. Feel US." Tears filled her eyes as she felt, for the first time, the two of them joined together, alive and whole after this terrible night. She sniffled and reached up to kiss him softly, and then he began to move. She wrapped her legs around him and ran her hands over his back, smoothing the warm skin she found there, moving with him, feeling him reach between them to stroke her, and the feeling of pleasure rose to such a peak she was digging her fingers into his shoulders and crying out his name over and over again until everything whited out and she crashed and burned. With a shout, Rick quickly followed her over the edge._

_They lay sweaty and panting for a bit before Rick leaned down to kiss her as he withdrew and moved off of her. It was a tight fit on the couch, but he gathered her to him. After a few minutes, he put a hand to her chin and lifted it so he could look into her eyes. "I'm not sorry," he said softly. "No matter what, I can never be sorry about this." _

_Kate kissed his chest. "No, I can't be sorry, either. After all that happened tonight, we deserve one night."_

_Eventually they made it to her bed. He woke her twice to make love to her again. They were so engrossed in each other, nothing else mattered. Outside, the world could burn and they wouldn't care as long as they were with each other._

Now, Kate rose to drag herself into the shower. There was something she needed to do, and it had to be done as soon as possible.

#######

Richard Castle entered his loft to find his mother and daughter eating breakfast at the kitchen island. "Hey Dad," Alexis gave him a big smile. "How did the stakeout go?"

"Stakeout?" Rick frowned in confusion.

"Yeah, Gram told me you weren't home this morning because you and Detective Beckett were at a stakeout."

Rick glanced at his mother, who gave him a small shrug over her coffee cup. "Uh, it was fine, you know, kind of boring, not much happened except for the doughnuts."

"Oh, well, doughnuts are good." She got up and grabbed her backpack. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Okay, off to school. See you tonight." And she was off.

Rick looked at his mother, seeing the disapproval on her face. He took the bar stool in front of her. "For your information," he said softly. "I've just come from breaking things off with Gina."

"What's that saying about closing the barn door after the horse is gone? It's a little late to be doing that, but I'm glad you did. How did it go?"

Rick fingered his cheek with a wince. "About like you'd expect. She called me every name in the book hit me as hard as she could."

"Mmm," Martha was unsympathetic. "Was this before or after you told her about Beckett."

"I didn't so much tell her about Kate. She kind of figured it out."

Martha nodded. "Bright girl." She folded up the paper and got up. "I need to take a shower."

"Mother," He stopped her by blocking her path. "I want you to know, I love her. Kate, I'm in love with her. I'd do anything to be with her."

Martha put a hand on his shoulder. "Yes, darling, I know," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I've known that for quite a while now-probably even before you did. And, by the way, you've got a hickey on your neck." With a pat to his cheek she circled around him and went upstairs.

#######

Lanie looked up as Kate walked through the doors to the morgue.

"Hey, girl." Lanie was working on the body of an older woman.

"Hey," Kate smiled at her friend. "Can we talk?"

"If you don't mind Mrs. Johnson listening in, sure."

Kate nodded and faced her friend from the other side of the table.

"I slept with him."

Lanie dropped the instrument she was holding. She didn't even pretend to not know who Kate was referring to.

"Get out. Castle? You and Castle?" Her grin split her face. "That's great."

"No, Lanie, it's not great, well, IT was definitely great (Lanie laughed at that), but that's not what I mean. We're both involved with other people. We had no right…"

"No right? Kate, you two have been doing verbal foreplay for what? Two years now? It's about time. Now you just have to get rid of Dr. Fabulous." Her tone was not complimentary.

"You never liked Josh, did you?" Kate frowned.

"No, I didn't," Lanie addressed that to Mrs. Johnson. "And I didn't like Demming, either."

"Why?"

"'Cause they weren't Mr. Richard Castle, and that's who you belong with, that's why."

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm on my way to break it off with Josh."

Lanie did a fist pump. "Yes! This is such great news, Kate. Castle adores you, you know that."

Kate smiled, as she pushed back through the doors she said over her shoulder, "For the record? The feeling's kind of mutual." She smiled when she heard Lanie squeal.

#######

After asking at the nurses' station, Kate spotted Josh walking down one of the hallways with a chart in his hand, and called out his name. He smiled when he saw her, but the smile faded when he saw the look on her face. "Kate," he said quietly as he approached her. "What are you doing here?"

"Josh, is there someplace we can talk privately?"

Josh sighed heavily. "Yeah, sure, over here." He led her to an empty conference room. As he closed the door, he said, "So, this is where you end it with me, right?" He sounded resigned.

Kate felt suddenly uncomfortable. "How did you know?"

"I've had the feeling I wasn't the one you wanted for a while now, but you just confirmed it."

"Josh, you're a great guy…"

"Please don't tell me you want to be just friends."

Kate smiled, but it was more of a grimace.

"It's him, isn't it? The writer?"

Kate took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah, It is."

"Glad you're finally admitting it to yourself. What clued you in?"

Kate put her hands in her coat pockets. "He almost died last night. He was almost killed by a suspect."

Josh nodded. "Well, thanks for telling me face to face." He started out of the room and stopped. "Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Be happy, okay?"

Kate smiled. "Yeah, you, too."

#######

Around noon Castle arrived at the precinct, but when he got to Kate's floor, her desk was empty. Ryan and Esposito were sharing a pizza in the break room, so he stuck his head in the door. "Hey, guys."

"Castle," Ryan said. Esposito was busy chewing and just gave him a nod.

"How ya doin', Ryan?" Castle asked, noting the bandage on Ryan's forehead.

"I'm the one you should be asking," Esposito said. "My partner goes off and gets his head bashed in, and I wasn't even around to see it." He made a sound of disgust.

The ever present gallows humor, Castle thought.

"I'm okay," Ryan tried to brush it off. "You?"

"I'm good. Better. Have you guys seen Beckett?

"Yeah, she went to the thing with the thing." Esposito said around a mouth full of pizza, pointing toward the window. Translation, Castle thought, Kate's gone to the market down the street with the hot food/salad bar. Kate liked to get a salad most times. Justification for adding one of their desserts. They had killer carrot cake.

"Okay, thanks." He started to leave when Ryan and Esposito exchanged knowing glances.

"Whoa. Hold up, my man," Esposito said with a smirk. "So where'd you get the love bite?" He gestured toward his neck. Ryan snorted.

"Oh. Yeah." He put a hand to his neck. He had a flash of Kate sucking on his pulse point. He really should have covered it up somehow. "Uh, I don't kiss and tell, guys, see ya." He started to head toward the stairs when he saw Kate coming up them holding two Styrofoam containers. She smiled when she saw him, and was she blushing?

"Hey," he said, feeling like a teenager.

"Hey yourself. What are you doing here today? I thought the captain told you to take the day off." She purposely brushed past him so closely they touched and he could smell her. Cherries. She gave him a grin that made his head spin.

"He did. I, uh, can I talk to you privately for a moment?"

The smile faded from her face. "Sure, let's go in here." She put her containers down on her desk and gestured toward the conference room.

After she closed the door, she turned to face him. "What's up?" she said softly.

He fixated on her mouth, a slight grin on his face, and said, "I want to kiss you so badly right now."

Heat flared in her cheeks as her mind recalled several key events of last night.

"Rick…" she tried to put some warning into the word, but it came out more like a plea.

Castle gathered himself together and drew in a deep breath. "Kate Beckett, I want you to know I am a greedy, greedy man."

She crossed her arms in front of her. "Oh?"

"Yes, it's true. I am afraid even though I promised, I'm afraid one night will never, ever be enough for me."

A small, pleased smile appeared on her face. She approached him and reached up to tug gently on his collar. "Oh, is that right? What about Gina?"

"After I left you this morning-which, by the way, was one of the hardest things I ever had to do—I went and braved the wrath of Gina and broke it off with her."

The smile fell from her face and she blinked rapidly for a few seconds. "Rick, I never…we didn't discuss…you didn't have to…"

He reached up and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and looked into her eyes. "Yes, I did. Do you think I could go back to Gina after the way we were last night?" She could see something occur to him and his hand fell away from her chin. "That doesn't mean..I don't…" There was a question in his eyes.

Kate put a hand on his arm. "To answer your question, I broke it off with Josh this morning, too. I couldn't be with him after last night, either."

He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "I want to be with you, Kate. I hope you want to be with me, too. Can we do that?"

There was that heat in her cheeks again. "Yes, I think we can definitely do that. He smiled into her eyes and leaned forward to kiss her softly on the mouth.

#######

Watching through the conference room windows, arms crossed in front of them, smiles on their faces, Ryan and Esposito nodded their approval.

"Well, finally," Ryan said.

"About damned time," Esposito muttered. As a uniform passed by and glanced into the conference room, Esposito's smile turned into a glare and he turned to bark loudly, "Whada you lookin' at?" The uniform scurried away.

#######

A month later, Kate lay in bed and watched her lover talking on the phone. A lot had happened since that first night. She and Rick were now full-time lovers and he'd finally convinced her to move into the loft. She'd been hesitant at first, but after getting both Alexis and Martha's seal of approval, she'd finally given in.

Rick had been hinting around about engagement rings and marriage, but for Kate her relationship with him was still very new and she asked him to table that thought for the time being, but she was completely in love with him and very happy right now. She marveled that the horrible night a month ago could start a whole chain of events that had so drastically and happily changed her life.

Bright sunlight streamed into the room as Rick paced back and forth talking to Paula-stark naked. The man had no modesty or self consciousness about his body, and although he was not in body builder shape, Kate was still admiring the view. He was a big man, something she found very, very sexy. She'd always loved big guys and Rick was all hers.

On a pass by the bed he caught her eye and did a little double-take, noticing she was awake and watching him. He grinned at her and made some silly poses, like a muscle man, which made her smile. He kept pacing and talking, but now and again he'd glance back at her and she decided to fight fire with fire. She threw the sheets back, revealing her body to his gaze, and put her arms over her head, as if she were just relaxing in bed. She gave him a sultry smile, bending one knee slightly.

Again, he did a double-take and his body had an immediate and very definite response to that, his gaze roamed over her and lust filled his eyes. Kate grinned. He was still talking to Paula, but Kate had his undivided attention, and he kept losing track of the conversation.

He quickly ended the call, cutting Paula off in mid-sentence, and all but threw the phone away from him as he pounced on Kate, who squealed and giggled as his body landed on hers. He grabbed her face between his hands and ravaged her mouth hungrily, causing her to moan low in her throat. "Christ, Kate, you drive me crazy." He pressed kisses against her throat and stroked her with his tongue.

"Mission accomplished, then," she murmured, running her hands over his chest.

She still had dreams about that horrible night when she thought she'd lost him forever, dreams where she didn't get there in time, where the worst had happened and Tyson had killed him, but in reality, her reality with Rick was so much better and he was with her all the way.

She wrapped her arms around him and smiled.

Fin


End file.
